


Too Cute to Spook

by copperpotsnpans



Series: Holiday Fics [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Always Female Derek Hale, Always Female Stiles Stilinski, F/F, Fluff, Halloween, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-06 19:14:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16393553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copperpotsnpans/pseuds/copperpotsnpans
Summary: Laura rolled her eyes and put down her nail polish before responding. “The people are back on their bullshit again.”“Trying to give a sacrifice again?” Dara asked.





	Too Cute to Spook

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween! Enjoy this fluffy holiday fic! Feel free to leave kudos or comments (or both if you're feeling *extra* spooky!) All mistakes in this are my own.

“Dara!” Laura yelled down the stairs, interrupting Dara’s reading. Sighing, she placed her novel on the chair beside her and stood up. She knew better than to yell back, her mom would for sure have both their hides. They might be werewolves but they weren’t animals. 

 

Dara took her time climbing the stairs. She was in no hurry to find out what Laura wanted, which more than likely was something particularly unpleasant. 

 

Eventually, Dara couldn’t stall any longer on the stairs. She found herself in the doorway of Laura’s room, a monstrosity of pink and purple. It was so sweet that Dara’s teeth hurt, her jaw clenching on relex alone.

 

“What do you want?” she huffed, conveying her frustration at being interrupted.

 

Laura rolled her eyes and put down her nail polish before responding. “The people are back on their bullshit again.”

 

“Trying to give a sacrifice again?” she asked.

 

“Precisely. I overheard some of the juniors talking about it during lunch. They think that the usual plant gifts aren’t enough.”

 

Dara was astounded at the ridiculousness that seemed to encompass the local town every October. While it wasn’t known that their family were werewolves, there had always been rumors. In years past, the humans had decided that the best way to appease the mysterious creatures in the forest was to give them a sacrifice of sorts. Dara wasn’t sure whose idea it had been originally, but their parents had found it hilarious. And had decided to play along. So now, once a year on Halloween, one of them had to go out in their beta form and retrieve the sacrifice, making sure to leave claw marks to show that the gift was appreciated. If a blurry photo surfaced the next morning with glowing eyes or a humanesque figure in the background, Dara thought the whole thing was absurd. It was only a matter of time before someone took it too seriously and decided to investigate for real. Or before one of them fucked up and got caught.

 

“What exactly are they planning to do? Offer a steak or something?” 

 

Laura pursed her lips, “Or something. Last I heard they were debating who would be missed the least.”

 

Dara choked on her own spit. “They’re considering offering a person? What the fuck are you supposed to do with a person?”

 

“Hell if I know.” Laura laughed. “But you better figure it out. You’re up this year.”

 

Dara drew up short. “What do you mean, I’m up this year? It’s Peter’s turn.” She was sure of it. They all drew straws during New Year’s. Peter got the short straw.

 

“Yeah but Peter’s administering an exam that evening so he’s off the hook. You got the second shortest straw so it falls to you.” Laura shrugged.

 

“Was anyone going to tell me about this?”

 

“I just did.”

 

“Does mom know about this?” Dara asked.

 

Laura shrugged her shoulders again, going back to painting her nails.  

 

Dara huffed and stomped back down the stairs, ignoring her book in favor of searching out her mom. There’s no way she could honestly expect Dara to deal with a human sacrifice. 

 

She found her mom in the kitchen, rolling out cookie dough, her hands covered in flour. 

 

Having explained the situation a short while later, Dara stared in disbelief as Talia laugher, nearly hysterical at the prospect.

 

“Dara this is fantastic! Think of all the opportunities.”

 

“You do it then.”

 

“I don't think so. You drew the short straw on this one, my dear. Literally.” Talia chuckled. “Be careful though, don’t get caught. Other than that, have fun with it. You might be able to outdo Peter this year.” 

 

Unsatisfied with her mom’s lack of sympathy for her plight, Dara spent the rest of the night sulking.

 

The next morning her attitude wasn’t much better, but it didn’t really matter because she was out of time. Grumbling she double checked the calendar just to make sure the date hadn’t changed when she wasn’t looking. Nope. Still October 31st. 

 

Dara skulked her way through the halls, slamming her locker open. She didn’t want to participate in this nonsense but she had long since resigned herself to being part of her family’s shenanigans. All she could do now was find out who exactly had been chosen to be the sacrifice. 

 

And what the hell she was supposed to do with them? It’s not like she could just drag an entire human through the forest without them seeing her. She supposed she could just growl from a distance, maybe a howl here and there. Just enough to scare the shit out of someone. Dara chuckled a little at that. That didn’t sound so bad, particularly if whoever was picked was annoying. Like Jackson. Or Greenberg. Dara hoped it was Greenberg.

 

That little shit had been annoying her since the unfortunate day she met him in kindergarten. He’d introduced himself and then taken a bite out of Dara’s favorite crayon, the yellow-green one. Despite what her teacher had said, it was not the same as the green-yellow one. There was very clearly a difference. Dara had never quite forgiven Greenberg for the trespass.

 

As classes drug on, Dara tried to eavesdrop as much as possible on her fellow classmates. She needed to know who was going to be forced into the forest as a sacrifice. By lunch she hadn’t heard any solid leads. Though Danny had suggested that a goat be left instead, which Dara thought might be a solid plan. She wouldn’t mind taking a goat back to the house, they could donate it to a petting zoo or something. 

 

Alas, Dara had precisely zero solid information by the time the final bell had rung. She trudged her way to Laura’s car, slamming the door and slumping in the passenger seat.

 

“Are you excited for tonight?” Laura smirked, pulling into traffic.

 

“Ecstatic.” Dara mumbled, sliding lower into the seat. “Do you know who they picked?”

 

Laura seemed to be considering for a moment before she responded. “Last I heard, Lydia mentioned that Stiles would be the likely candidate. Because, you know, she’s the Sheriff’s daughter so it’s unlikely she could go missing without a fuss. They’re thinking that we’ll do something dastardly with Stiles, the Sheriff will investigate and the monsters in the forest will be conquered.”

 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Dara said in disbelief. What kind of shitty ass plan was that? “What genius thought this up?”

 

“Scott McCall.” Laura told her, as if that explained everything. And, well, it kind of did. Scott was a lot of things but a genius was not one of them. He was a nice guy, just not all that creative when it mattered. Proposing his best friend be a human sacrifice was certainly not going to be his finest moment in high school.

 

That brought Dara up with another issue. She would have preferred nearly anyone to Stiles. Because, see, Dara didn’t really know Stiles that well. They weren’t friends and they’d probably only spoken in passing. Dara only officially knew her because she’d played lacrosse with Scott, and Scott and Stiles were joined at the hip. Unofficially, however, Dara knew quite a bit  _about_ Stiles. Like how her her hair had gotten tangled in a hair tie last year and she’d had to have it cut out. Or that she loved history, even though it was her worst subject. Dara also happened to know that Stiles had moles dotted along her pale skin that made Dara think about playing connect the dots with her tongue.

 

See, Dara had had something of a crush on Stiles ever since Stiles had poured apple juice on herself during chemistry class to distract Mr. Harris from Scott copying her work. Stiles had ever so casually upended the entire bottle onto her shirt while Scott had scribbled down the correct answers to whatever assignment they were doing.

 

Stiles had stood there, her red jacket dripping with the amber liquid, looking nonchalant at the whole affair as Harris had ranted and raved about her incompetence. 

 

And Dara had become infatuated. After that incident, she became hyper aware of where Stiles was and what she was doing at all times. The last thing she wanted to ever do was scare her.

 

Dara’s scowl deepened. “So I’m supposed to go terrorize Stiles.” she summarized.

 

Laura signalled to turn into their driveway before responding. “Maybe not terrorize. Just spook her a bit, you know, shake her up and send her on her way. It’s not like we’re expecting you to maim the poor thing. Just, like, growl and flash your eyes a little and say something about humans being too difficult to eat and then run away. That should fix the issue.”  

 

Dara was distinctly not impressed with Laura’s half assed plan and tried to convey that using only her eyebrows. Judging by Laura’s smug expression, it wasn’t working.

 

She didn’t know what she was going to do but she was positive that she wasn’t going to fucking terrorize the one girl that she liked. Even if Stiles didn’t know it was her, she’d feel guilty forever. She’d never work up the courage to talk to Stiles if the sour taste of her guilt filled her mouth every time she saw the brown headed girl.

 

Laura opened the front door and the smell of chocolate chip cookies filled Dara’s nose.

 

Talia poked her head around the corner and smiled at the girls. 

 

“You made cookies?” Dara asked, temporarily distracted from her horrendous plight.

 

Talia smiled softly, her eyes crinkling at the corner, one of the few signs of her true age. “I heard that you’re not thrilled with the plan for tonight. I thought cookies might make it a little better.”

 

Dara accepted the offered cookie, the semisweet chocolate flavor bursting across her tongue. She chewed slowly, considering. Looking at her mom, she’d never guess that she was a fearless alpha who had quite literally ripped people limb from limb. Talia looked like freaking June Cleaver, a perfect wife and mother. 

 

“How do you do it?” she asked, trailing after her mom into the kitchen.

 

“Do what, sweetie?”

 

“You just, you’re great at being alpha but you’re also…” Dara trailed, gesturing at Talia, standing at the sink, soap bubbles up to her elbows.

 

“Deceptively sweet?” Talia smirked. Dara nodded and she continued, “I look this way for a reason, honey. If people think I’m this poor mom who couldn’t possibly hurt a fly, then they’re likely to underestimate me. It gives me the advantage more often than not. It pays to be sugary sweet sometimes. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m a well respected member of Beacon Hills’ society. Nobody would ever think that sweet Mrs. Hale who makes the best peach cobbler this side of the Mississippi could possibly be responsible for the odd dead deer.” she finished.

 

“So what am I supposed to do?” Dara huffed. “I don’t look deceptively sweet.” She was well aware that she had resting bitch face.

 

Talia tilted her head to the side, considering. “It’s only fair you take your turn. I can’t let you out of something just because you don’t want to do it, that would be a dangerous lesson for the future. That being said, you don’t have to hurt the girl. Just stand at the treeline, flash your eyes, growl a little. Monitor the Stilinski girl’s heart rate, when it increases enough, leave. That way you’re not permanently scarring the poor thing.”

 

Dara nodded along. She supposed it made sense, though she didn’t have to be happy about it. “Fine.” she stood up, and pushed in her chair before leaving the kitchen. She took the stairs two at a time, determined to sulk in her room for as much time as possible before she was forced to leave.

 

She must have dozed because the next thing she knew, Laura was pounding on her door. 

 

Dara took her time getting up, reluctant to leave her warm cocoon. She swung the door open, revealing Laura’s grinning face.

 

“It’s time to go. Jackson Whittemore just texted me to invite me over to his Halloween bash. They’re getting together to wait for Stilinski to either come back...or not.” she laughed.

 

Dara waved her hand in acknowledgement before closing the door again to change her clothes. Solid black, just like her feelings. She finished with her leather jacket, reluctant to leave it behind. It was a little like her security blanket, making her feel a little bit better about the shitty thing she was about to do.

 

She walked downstairs, not surprised to find her entire family, save Peter, gathered in the family room. “What are you guys doing?” she asked.

 

“We thought we’d stay up and wait for you. We’re gonna watch Nightmare on Elm Street and then when you get back we’ll watch whatever you want to watch.” her dad, Simon, told her. 

 

She warmed a little at the kind gesture. “Thanks dad.”

 

Laura grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the door. “We’ve gotta scoot or you’re going to be late. Let’s not leave Stiles waiting.” she sing-songed. 

 

Outside Dara shivered at the cool autumn air that was carried by a slight breeze, despite the fact that she ran a few degrees warm as a werewolf. 

 

“You know where you’re going?” Laura asked.

 

“I’m assuming the same spot that we go to every year.” she responded, referencing the clearing that contained a chopped down maple tree. It wasn’t anything special but the tree was used as an offering plate of sorts, the supposed sacrifices always resting atop the stump.

 

“See you later!” Laura called as she got in her Camaro. 

 

Dara shook her head. It was hard to imagine Laura could be so happy when she was clearly so very unhappy. Dara snorted. Not really. After all, Laura’s primary concern was usually Laura and she seemed to be having a great night. 

 

Dara skulked off into the forest, navigating by memory alone. While she wasn’t going to complain about the opportunity to see Stiles outside of the confines of Beacons Hills High School, she certainly wasn’t happy it was under these circumstances. Though, she supposed Stiles would look just as beautiful as always, despite the fear that would surely mar her face.

 

Dara had seen a myriad of emotions on Stiles’s face before, though never fear. She’d seen her happy, like when Scott had saved her french fries in the cafeteria, though Dara knew from her careful observations that Stiles really preferred the curly fries above all else. She’d seen her angry, when someone had filmed Erica Reyes having a seizure. Stiles had fearlessly stomped up and swatted the phone out the guys’ hand, cracking the screen. She’d also seen her sad after her mom had died. But Dara had never seen Stiles scared, and she hoped that after tonight she’d never have to see her scared again.

 

Before she realized it, she had arrived at the edge of the clearing, which was illuminated only by the faint moonlight escaping the cloud cover. In the middle, sitting cross legged on the tree stump was Stiles. She was wearing jeans and her red hoodie, the same thing she’d been wearing earlier at school. One foot seemed to be jiggling, her converse sneaker bouncing up and down. Dara couldn’t tell if it was apprehension or impatience shining through. 

 

Dara moved to the very edge of the clearing, only barely hidden by a tree. She had to get it together before she blew it and disappointed her entire family. She crept forward, nearly silent, avoiding the leaves that littered the forest floor.

 

When she was shrouded only by the shadow, no longer the cover of the tree, Dara focused on shifting, the feeling of her ear elongating, her brow becoming prominent and her teeth sharpening in preparation for hunting prey. Her eyes burned as her vision sharpened, a gold glow emanating from them. 

 

She pictured Laura taunting her and Cora invading her room time and time again and found herself growling softly at first, and then louder to get Stiles’s attention.

 

She knew when she had succeeded because Stiles snapped her head around towards where Dara was standing, peering at the treeline.

 

Dara began to count the heartbeat echoing in the clearing as she continued growling. 

  
  


“Who’s there?” Stiles called, her voice strong despite the uneasiness that Dara could smell.

 

“They left a human this year.” Dara rasped.

 

Stiles jumped slightly before standing up. “They sure did. Just poor little old me. All by myself.”

 

“We don’t accept. Humans are too difficult to eat. Next year bring a pie.” Dara commanded. Internally, she was smacking herself. Why the fuck would werewolves want pie? She should have said something gruesome like pig’s blood. Or a goat.

 

“Too difficult? You’d prefer a pie over me?” Stiles questioned, the doubt evident in her voice.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Well that’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve heard all night and I was convinced to be a human sacrifice. So that right there should tell you, it’s pretty stupid. Unless you’re trying to just tell me that I’m too difficult. In which case, fuck you. Because I have it on good authority that I’m only moderately difficult depending on who you ask.” Stiles continued on her tirade, clearly offended.

 

Dara was shocked into silence. How was she supposed to respond to that? Leave it Stiles to be offended because someone didn’t want to eat her. Who the hell got offended at that?

 

“You’re too skinny.” she blurted, struggling to find an adequate response.

 

“Skinny?” Stiles shrieked. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are but I’m not skinny. Lean, sure. Wiry, absolutely. But not skinny. Have you seen this ass?” she turned around and lifted her hoodie, showcasing the ass in question, encased in tight jeans. Stiles turned back around, letting her hoodie fall and began stalking towards Dara.

 

Still in shock, Dara slowly began backing away. This was not how this was supposed to go. Weren’t human sacrifices supposed to be docile and timid. Not confrontational. 

 

As Stiles got closer, Dara started walking backwards even quicker, not paying attention to where she was going. Her leg made contact with a fallen branch and she felt her feet leave the ground as she fell. And then Stiles was above her looking down in disbelief.

 

“No offense, dude. But you really suck at this whole big bad scary predator thing. Maybe you should switch careers.” she leaned down and then stopped suddenly, confusion and recognition overtaking her features. “Dara? Dara Hale?” she asked.

 

Dara’s hand flew up to her face, realizing that in her panic, most of her features had reverted, leaving only her eyes glowing. But also, Stiles knew who she was.

 

Not waiting for a response Stiles continued, “Is this some kind of joke? Did Jackson put you up to this? Or was it Lydia? This seems like something she’d do. Either way, it’s not fucking funny. How’d you pull this off? Are those specialty contacts?” she asked rapid fire.

 

“Uh.” Dara stuttered. “You know who I am?” she asked and then immediately cringed. She was blowing this good and proper tonight.

 

Stiles scoffed and plopped down on the fallen branch. “Of course I know who you are. You’re Dara Hale. You play lacrosse. Two sisters, Laura and Cora. You know if your parents wanted your names to rhyme, they should’ve went with Dora, not Dara. Regardless, we have chemistry together and you scowl at me every day. I know who you are.”

 

“I don’t scowl at you.” Dara interrupted.

 

Stiles rolled her eyes. “I’d think I’d know. I’m the one you’re scowling at after all. Unless you have a burgeoning hate for Scott and no one hates Scott. Which means it’s me that irks you so.” she paused, “Is that why you did this? Because you hate me? I can’t think of anything I’ve done to deserve being terrorized on Halloween in the forest. But also, you weren’t very good at the whole terrorizing shebang.”

 

Dara ignored the jab to focus on the more important thing. Stiles thought she hated her. 

 

“I don’t hate you.” Dara muttered. Apparently her nonchalant observations weren’t as subtle as she’d thought. Combine that with her resting bitch face and here they were.

 

“What? You’re mumbling.”

 

“I don’t hate you and I wasn’t scowling at you in class.”

 

“Well I wouldn’t call it fondly gazing.”

 

Dara huffed. “I have resting bitch face. I always look like that. It was my version of fondly gazing.”

 

Stiles stared at her for a moment. “Are you saying you like me?” The skepticism was clear in her voice.

 

Dara leaned her head back onto the ground and closed her eyes. “That would appear to be what I’m saying. I stare because I like the way you crinkle your nose when you laugh and how you stick up for your friends and let Scott copy your work. Is that weird?”

 

“A little.” Dara cringed as Stiles spoke. “But I can dig it.”

 

Dara’s eyes flew open as she sat up abruptly. “Wait. Really?”

 

Stiles shrugged. “Yeah. I mean it’s not like I tried to join the lacrosse team last year so that I’d have an excuse to talk to you. Or that I’m in a chemistry class I already passed just in case Harris paired us together. That would be ridiculous.” Stiles nervously laughed. “I just thought you didn’t like me since you never seemed to pick up on it.”

 

“I never noticed.” Dara explained. “I’m super oblivious sometimes.”

 

“Apparently.” Stiles muttered. “Okay. So I like you, you like me. We should go on a date sometime.”

 

“That sounds good.” Dara responded, her cheeks warming.

 

Stiles smiled down at her before offering a hand, helping Dara back to her feet. They stared at each other for a moment before the smile slowly slid off Stiles’s face.

 

“Why would you agree to prank me like this if you like me? Was this all a ploy to get me alone?”

 

“That would have been genius!” Dara exclaimed.

 

Stiles chuckled. “I mean creepy, but sure genius. Was that not you’re plan?”

 

“Not at all. I didn’t even want to do this. My family made me.” Dara blurted.

 

“Your family?” Stiles asked. “What does your family have to do with this?”

 

Dara covered her eyes with her hand. Leave it to her to not only fail at the one thing she was supposed to do but now she was spilling valuable secrets. 

 

“I shouldn’t have said that.” she told Stiles, pleading with her eyes to not ask any more questions.

 

Unfortunately, Stiles wasn’t picking up on her eye language.

 

“Is everything okay at home? It’s not normal for your parents to make you wander in the forest at night. I can talk to my dad if you want. They’ll never know you said anything. It can be like an anonymous tip.” Stiles promised, reaching out to grab Dara’s hand.

 

“No! No, nothing like that! My parents are great, I swear! It’s just that. You know the rumors about the monsters in the forest?” Stiles nodded and Dara continued in a rush, “There aren’t any real monsters. It’s just my family. They get a kick out of the rumors and so they play into the whole sacrifice thing you know? People stay off our property and don’t ask too many questions.”

 

Stiles’s brow furrowed. “So it’s all a scam? Then what’s up with the contacts? Are they light activated or something? Because they were definitely glowing earlier and they’re not now.”

 

Dara panicked, and in her panic, she decided to go with the worst possible option. The truth. “I’m a werewolf.”

 

Stiles momentarily looked hurt. “That’s not funny. Why are you making fun of me?”

 

“I’m not! Look!” Dara said, shifting briefly.

 

Stiles reached out to touch Dara’s ear. “Holy fuck. Werewolves are real? That’s so fucking cool, dude. Wait. Does this mean my future girlfriend is a werewolf? Do I get supernatural adjacent perks?” she rambled.

 

“Future girlfriend?” Dara interrupted.

 

Stiles shrugged, “I mean if the date goes well, sure.”

 

Dara was elated at the prospect before the cold hard truth hit her. She just exposed her family’s most valuable secret to a girl. Without her alpha’s permission. “I’m so fucked.” she muttered. Stiles peered at her for a moment before she finished her thought. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you any of that. My mom’s going to be so pissed at me. You can’t tell anyone!” she panicked. “There are people who hunt us. You can’t say anything to anyone! I shouldn’t have said anything. God, why am I so fucking bad at this?” Dara rambled.

 

Stiles reached up and tucked Dara’s hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t tell anyone. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have this secret and never be able to tell anyone.” They stood in silence until Stiles spoke again. “Hey! I know, I’ll go with you to your house and then explain to your parents that I figured it out on my own and it won’t be an issue. They can’t be mad at you if I guessed, right?”

 

Dara considered it. Maybe it would work? She didn’t honestly know but it was worth a shot and she told Stiles as much.

 

“Are we close to your house?” she asked “Did you walk?”

 

“I did but it’s too far to walk back. I’ll call Laura.”

 

Dara listened to the phone ring before the line clicked. She didn’t wait for Laura to speak before she started, “Hey. Can you come pick me up?”

 

“Are you done already?” Laura’s voice was tinny through the line.

 

“You could say that, yeah.” 

 

Laura laughed. “I’ll pick you up by the preserve entrance in fifteen.”

 

Dara pocketed her phone. “She’s on her way.”

 

“Great. Let’s go.” 

 

They walked to the entrance of the preserve, holding hands and making small talk, which is where they were a short time later when Laura’s car stopped near them.

 

Dara could see the shock on her face through the windshield. Dara opened the back door for Stiles, waiting until she was in before sliding in beside her.

 

“Dara, what a surprise! Stiles, how are you?” Laura faux-enthused. 

 

“She knows.” Dara stopped her.

 

“She knows what?” Laura asked, an unnaturally large smile on her face.

 

“That you’re werewolves.” Stiles answered, leaning forward.

 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Dara, you told her? Mom’s going to have your ass.”

 

“Nope, I guessed.” Stiles corrected and Laura guffawed. 

 

“But you didn’t tell her we can hear heartbeats? Sweetie, we can hear when you lie. It’s nice that you’re trying to cover Dara’s ass but mom’s gonna see through that a mile away.”

 

Confusion took over Stiles’s face.

 

“Just drive.” Dara mumbled, interlacing her fingers with Stiles’s. 

 

Stiles rubbed her thumb against the back of Dara’s hand as they drove. However, all too soon they were pulling up to the Hale house.

 

Stiles squeezed her hand in reassurance as they walked into the house.

 

“You’re never going to fucking believe this mom!” Laura called.

 

“Laura Elizabeth! Language!” Talia exclaimed, rounding the corner from the family room to the hall before stopping short. Dara ducked her head at her mom’s glance. “Is this Miss Stilinski?” she asked.

 

“Yes, ma’am and I’d just like to say, none of this is Dara’s fault. You see, I guessed that you guys were werewolves and Dara’s just awful at lying. Really, I pretty much tricked it out of her!” Stiles explained.

 

Dara watched her mom’s face go from confused to angry before settling on amused. “Dara told you we’re werewolves? What are you kids up to?” she began. 

 

Dara cut before she got too far, “I showed her, mom.”

 

Talia looked shocked before quickly covering. “Well, then. I knew you weren’t thrilled about this but I never expected this from you Dara. I’m disappointed. Go to your room. I need to talk to Miss Stilinski here.”

 

Dara hesitantly climbed the stairs to her room, reluctant to leave Stiles alone with her mom. It wasn’t that she thought her mom would hurt her, but there was definitely a chance that Talia would scare Stiles off. 

 

Once in her room, Dara took off her jacket and hung it up in her closet. She took off her shoes and put them by the door, and with a lack of anything else to do, plopped face down on her bed. She could just imagine the situation downstairs. If it hadn’t been for the soundproofing in the house she would have been eavesdropping for sure.

 

It felt like an eternity had passed by the time Dara heard a tapping at her door. She sat up and hastily patted down her hair, combing through it with her fingers. “Come in.” she called.

 

The door opened to reveal Stiles, looking none the worse for wear. “What happened?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

 

Stiles chuckled as she closed the door behind her, perching on the edge of Dara’s bed. “Talia just explained the importance of keeping the secret. No big deal. She also mentioned she was glad that you finally got the courage to talk to me. Apparently you’ve been pining for some time.”

 

Dara’s cheeks heated at the words. “I don’t know if I’d call it pining, per say.”

 

“Don’t worry, I think it’s cute. I have to head home, I just wanted to, uh, schedule our first date. I was thinking Beacon Coffee tomorrow after school. I can drive.” 

 

Dara nodded and smiled, her smile widening even further as Stiles leaned her head closer. Dara’s eyes drifted closed as their lips met, hesitant at first and then with confidence. The kissed softly until a knock at the door prompted them to spring apart. 

 

“No closed doors, girls.” Talia said, pausing before opening the door. “Stiles, let’s go. I’m driving you home. I expect to see you Friday night for pack dinner.”

 

Dara walked Stiles downstairs to the front porch. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

 

“Tomorrow.” Stiles confirmed. Talia unlocked her car and got in, Stiles turning back at the last moment. “Dara?” she called.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Happy Halloween!” she said, climbing into the car.

 

Dara stood on the front porch until she could no longer make out the tail lights of her mom’s car. Happy Halloween, indeed.

  
  
  



End file.
